Lever-action single shot .50 caliber carbine, closely resembling the Gallagher
carbine. The Union Army purchased 20,000 of these carbine for its cavalry during
the Civil War. The Confederacy also used intensively a previous model of this
carbine. When the trigger guard is pulled down, the barrel slides forward and
inclinates forward, exposing the breech for loading.

Unlike the
Gallagher, this carbine fired a brass metallic cartridge provided with a broad
lip, that prooved very esay to eject after firing. The Gallagher fired a
combustible catridge but also a brass one without any lip, that prooved very
difficult to eject.

The
Maynard was manufactured by the Massachussets Arms Company of Chicopee Falls,
under Maynard license.

Maynard, a
dentist, invented the tape-primer system, which is still in use today in toy
guns. The system was patented in February, 1845 and was used on various
firearms, among which the 1858 Sharps carbine and a scarce .28 caliber revolver,
also manufactured by the Massachussets Arms Company.